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Zo, Best Friends, Black Cat Day Gatto Nero

If you love cats, sharing makes us purrrr :-)

Zo, Best Friends Black Cat Day Gatto Nero. Nov. 17 is yet another Black Cat Day because black cats need our help. And a special cat named Jacque needs a home.

This year Best Friends Animal Sanctuary is teaming up with Microsoft and their chatbot Zo on Nov. 17. Black cat Celebrations are also happening in the land of la dolce vita. Originally launched in Italy by AIDAA and celebrated on Nov. 17, Black Cat Day or Gatto Nero has migrated stateside, but as a passionate black cat advocate, I scoured the Italian news for any new cultural tidbits. We all know about the superstitions about black cats and witches but the Italians historically associate black with mourning. There is an old Italian myth about Turkish pirates who kept black cats because they thought mice would not see them in the dark. When the pirates landed in a city to loot it, the cats jumped ship and were guilty by association.

Did you also know in Italy, Friday the 17th is similar our Friday the 13th? 17, in Roman numerals: XVII. By shuffling the digits of the number one can easily get the word VIXI (“I have lived”, implying death in the present), an omen of bad luck. Speaking of numbers, One Italian dating site stated 59% are superstitious and that extended to black cats. Americans are slightly less superstitious but the fact remains: all shelters around the world have an abundance of black cats.

“In this tenth year of the black day cat – says Lorenzo Croce, founder of the day and President of Aidaa says, “we invite all Italians and all those who own a black cat to light at 11 pm a light a candle for all the black cats who are victims of human beings; killed for the satanic rituals, for fur, for stupid superstitions of men and finally for eating. We want to remember them with a light because their memory never dies.

Lighting a candle at a certain time may not work for our time zones, but I love the idea of lighting a candle at any time today with positive thoughts or prayers. I’ve said this repeatedly over the years about black cat superstitions. Cats are innocent. It’s humans who judge and label what’s good or bad. Only humans can rip off the veil of superstitions and step out of the dark ages.

To celebrate all that is positive about black cats we’re featuring a very special adoptable named Jacques. If you’ve ever fallen in love with a cat online and said: If only he didn’t live so far away, I’d adopt him, now you can. Best Friends has a program for very shy cats they call “caturtles”. These adoptable cats are not only free but Best Friends will fly your new best friend home, anywhere in the U.S. or Canada. Find the closest Best Friends location near you and discover their novel programs like Seniors For Seniors.

black Cat Day nov 17

And if you need any coaxing or reasons to adopt a black cat, Cole and Marmalade have 10 reasons.

I’ve found black cats to be very smart and trainable. If you’re interested in kitty training, we’re consulting with Julie Posluns the founder of Cat School Check out their easy cat tricks video tutorial which was featured on The Dodo. You’ll find short clever cat training videos on Instagram @Cat.school or Facebook and will be expanding to YouTube soon. Julie’s black cat Jones is one cool cat and her #1 student.

Jones_black_cat_school

Amazon must be in a positive black cat mood since they lowered the price of our book! Black Friday is next week but Amazon is starting early. If only superstitions could shift as easily. Buy our book and maybe they will.

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